


I'll Brave the Storm

by PsychedelicatePoltergeist



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: AU where Hiyoko survives, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 00:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13493196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PsychedelicatePoltergeist/pseuds/PsychedelicatePoltergeist
Summary: When more bodies pile up and it's revealed that Mikan is the third blackened, Hiyoko vows to change for the better. Sonia decides to help.





	I'll Brave the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the final oneshot I'll have completed before I return to school and the hells of Year 12 are thrust upon me. I have not begun Screams and Sighs chapter 26 yet, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to, but I hope this oneshot will tide you over.
> 
> This oneshot takes place in an AU where Hiyoko doesn't die in Chapter 3, and it focuses on my personal interpretations on how she might've reacted to and thought about the third class trial, as well as what kind of direction her character arc might have taken had she survived in canon. I apologise if she's OOC; writing her in such a stressful and potentially life-changing situation is rather difficult, but I hope I have done an okay job.

The indigo hue of the night sky was dotted with twinkling stars as Hiyoko slowly walked across the sands of Jabberwock Island. The cool breeze slapped at her face, pushing her pigtails back a little. She tightly gripped the loose sleeves of her kimono, as though seeking some form of comfort from its soft fabric.

_ I’m not here to make friends,  _ she reminded herself firmly as she continued to walk across the beach towards her cottage, leaving footprints in the sand as she went.  _ I shouldn’t care about any of the people who died. _

But the reality was, she did. It was a harrowing truth she’d had to deal with when the only other student on the island she  _ did  _ befriend wound up murdered.

Hiyoko couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she watched Kazuichi chase after a steadily speed-walking and increasingly irritated Fuyuhiko. She had no idea why or how the two boys suddenly became friends, but, unsurprisingly, Kazuichi’s paranoia got the best of him immediately after Ibuki’s hanged body was discovered by everyone, and now it didn’t look like they were going to forgive each other any time soon.

“Hiyoko?” She hadn’t noticed that Sonia had appeared beside her until she’d called her name, and she hesitantly met her concerned gaze. “Is everything okay?”

_ Oh, right.  _ She did have a friend who was still alive. Well, she wasn’t sure if she could consider Sonia a  _ friend  _ per sé, but the Ultimate Princess had recently been an effective source of moral support for her. She’d never even asked, either; Sonia simply insisted upon entering her motel room at least twice per day, usually with a plate of food in hand, to check up on her and see if she needed anything. Some people were just too nice, she supposed.

Hiyoko narrowed her eyes, fixing them into the most menacing, unwelcoming glare she could muster. “Why should you care about  _ my  _ problems?” she spat. “I’m sure you have far more important things to worry about, like that cringey mechanic stalking you and trying to hit on you.”

“I apologise for upsetting you,” said Sonia, seemingly unfazed by her harsh choice of words. “I was simply wondering how well you have been coping, given today’s events.”

Hiyoko suppressed a shudder. The last thing she wanted to do was recap the day’s events and her involvement in them. It wasn’t like they’d already done that five times during the class trial. Besides, the last thing she needed was to start having nightmares about Mikan’s loud, insane laughter ringing throughout the courtroom, or the lifeless body of the perpetually-cheerful Ibuki.

“Go away,” she demanded. “Just let me go to sleep. I’ll forget about it all by tomorrow.”

Sonia sighed. “Being the first to witness the body of a deceased friend twice in a row is not something to be forgotten very easily,” she pointed out.

“That cone-headed punk freak was never my friend!” Hiyoko insisted as she felt her eyes well up with tears, knowing full well that that was a lie. “And neither are you! Stop pretending you are!”

“Hiyoko…”

Hiyoko immediately regretted being the cause of the look of hurt in Sonia’s eyes. As tears continued to obscure her vision, she gripped the sleeves of her kimono more intensely. She had to get away and go to her cottage before she fell apart completely.

But before she could go anywhere, Sonia’s hand clutched hers and held it in a firm grip. “You are coming along to my cottage with me,” she stated, “and you are going to allow me to comfort you to the best of my ability. Understood?”

After a moment of hesitation, Hiyoko nodded weakly. The tone of Sonia’s voice, as well as the determination in her eyes, made it almost impossible to say no.

\-----------------------◆-----------------------

Sonia, to Hiyoko’s surprise, had prepared tea for each of them once they’d entered her cottage - refined Japanese green tea, in fact. Hiyoko’s favourite. The two girls sat across from each other at a small, round table, teacups and saucers directly in front of them.

“Do you feel much better now, Hiyoko?” Sonia asked gently. “I do recall green tea being one of your favourites…”

“You don’t make it anywhere near as good as the cafés back home do,” Hiyoko replied as she took a sip. “At least it doesn’t taste like  _ water. _ I still expect you to do it better next time, though.”

“Of course! I vow to prepare the most delicious tea you will ever taste!”

From that point onward, there was silence. Hiyoko had to admit, the tea wasn’t half-bad, and it was, in fact, beginning to soothe her. Tea was always therapeutic for her, and the better it tasted, the more immediate the effects were. But nonetheless, there were still so many things weighing upon her mind, and there was no way Sonia’s tea could make all her troubled thoughts disappear. If she’d consumed her grandmother’s tea - which was by far the best tea she’d ever had - then maybe she could forget about it all, if only momentarily, but…

“Hiyoko,” Sonia finally spoke up as she placed her now-empty teacup onto its saucer. “The last time we spoke, you told me that you intend to become friendlier with the other students, particularly Mikan. Is that correct?”

Hiyoko almost choked on the tea she’d been gulping down. Hearing Sonia say it out loud made it all far, far worse. All she could do was nod - Sonia already knew about this, so there was no point in denying it now.

“I see…” Sonia frowned. “It troubles me to know that Mikan was the one who killed Ibuki, even if she was under the influence of the Despair Disease…”

“I never thought she ever had it in her,” said Hiyoko. “Everyone believed it, y’know. Everyone believed she was some dainty little flower who’d never hurt a fly. Even I had that impression of her, and…” She bowed her head, her next set of words streaming out in a quiet mumble. “...I never really hated her.”

“Right, I see,” Sonia nodded. “I remember now - you told me last night that you wished to protect her, yes?”

“I guess you could say that,” Hiyoko sighed. “Honestly, it’s just so  _ annoying  _ to see her stuttering and apologising all the time, and it’s so lame how she always cried at the drop of a hat. Let’s face it, that kind of fragile flower disposition won’t get you anywhere in life. And hey, what do you know, I was expecting her to get murdered sooner or later, but-“ she took a moment to cough out a bitter laugh “-she ended up being the  _ blackened! _ And… to be honest… I feel like it was my fault things turned out this way.”

“Your fault?” Sonia gasped. “How could this possibly have been your fault?”

“Isn’t it obvious, stupid? I never treated her nicely at all! I never even helped her out at the hospital and just got the stupid baby-faced Yakuza kid to do it instead! If I’d been there with her instead of sitting in my motel room brooding like a wangsty emo teenager the whole time, she’d-“ she choked back a sob, squeezing her eyes shut “-she’d still be here…”

Sonia rose to her feet and moved beside her, gently resting a hand on Hiyoko’s trembling shoulder. “It is truly alright,” she said. “As you said, nobody could have possibly anticipated this state of affairs. It is truly unfortunate that we have lost Ibuki and Mikan, but… there is nothing that we can do now, and there was no way we could have known that this was going to happen.”

“We should’ve had more people at the hospital!” Hiyoko protested. “If we did, someone would’ve seen that sick bitch being a little out of it!”

“Hajime and Fuyuhiko were not present at the time of the murder because they could not stay at the hospital overnight,” Sonia reminded her. “They trusted Mikan to oversee the patients and ensure that nothing happened to any of them. We all did.”

Hiyoko swallowed. “I guess you’re right…”

Sonia smiled pleasantly at her. “You may still help us out if you wish,” she went on. “We would all be extremely grateful for your support.”

Hiyoko’s eyes widened. “R-really? You’re not pulling my leg, right?”

“Of course not! I truly believe that you have been a huge help, and I am certain that you will continue to be a fine source of support.”

Hiyoko met Sonia’s hopeful gaze. “I… guess I can try,” she said. “But it’s not like I’ll be crying over whoever dies next or anything. Got that?”

Sonia giggled. “Of course.”

In reality, she sincerely hoped that Sonia would not die any time soon. And she promised to herself that, no matter what, she was not going to let anyone else die. But that, as it would turn out, was easier said than done.


End file.
